Skip to content

Builders’ and timber merchants, lumber distribution

Lumber distributor quote automation: from a builder’s list to a reviewed quote

Lumber distributor quote automation turns a builder’s materials list (email, Excel, PDF or photo) into a draft quote from your own catalogue. ERP Agent identifies the right product for each line, from 47x100 C24 treated to 18mm OSB3, scores every match from 0 to 100 and, with your ERP connected, applies the builder’s account pricing. Your rep approves before anything reaches your ERP, CRM or other system.

Get a demo

What does a quote request look like at a timber merchant or lumber yard?

Enquiries come from builders, developers, roofers and groundworkers: a house-plot schedule from an estimating package, an Excel list, an email from site saying “same as last week plus 20 lengths of 4x2”, a photo of a printed list. In North America, lumber yards and LBM dealers get the same requests as contractor take-offs and house packages, and two-step lumber distributors see them one step up, as a dealer’s list of sizes, grades and lengths.

One list mixes timber, sheet materials, blocks, aggregates and fixings, in lengths, sheets, packs and bulk bags. According to our case study, a sales rep spends on average 4–7 minutes per line when creating quotes and orders by hand. An 80-line house package therefore ties up a rep for 5 to 9 hours, while the builder has often sent the same list to other merchants, and the first accurate price has the best chance of the order. Work out your own figure with the quote cost calculator.

Why builders’ merchants and lumber distributors choose ERP Agent

  • It reads trade shorthand. 4x2 CLS, C24 treated, 12.5 TE, 7N dense, OSB3: sizes, grades, treatments and edges become the exact product in your catalogue, with neighbouring sizes and lengths kept apart.
  • One list, heavyside and lightside. Timber, sheet materials, blocks, aggregates and fixings go into one draft, whether the list arrives as an email, Excel, PDF or a photo.
  • Priced to the builder’s account. With your ERP connected, prices come from its own price logic, the builder’s discounts included.
  • Scored and explained. Every line carries a 0–100 match score, the agent’s reasoning and alternatives, so the rep checks the marked lines instead of retyping the list.
  • It learns your builders’ words. Every line your team sends teaches the agent: the next time a builder writes the same thing, it picks the same product.
  • Any ERP system. ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, Visma, IFS, Sage and any other ERP or CRM. We set up the connection for your company during onboarding, and you can start with a catalogue file the same week.

How does quote automation work for a building materials distributor?

It is the workflow behind AI quote automation for distributors and RFQ automation; a confirmed order follows it into a sales order (order entry automation).

  1. The list arrives

    A branch forwards the email to your agent mailbox, or drops the files into the web app as a quote or sales order.

  2. The builder and the site

    The agent identifies the builder in your customer register and alerts the rep when no account matches. The site address is tidied, a missing postcode filled in, and an address that differs from the ERP is flagged.

  3. Lines become products

    Abbreviations, sizes, materials and the builder’s own codes are mapped to your catalogue. A line with no plausible match goes on your placeholder code, never a guess.

  4. Prices go on the lines

    With your ERP connected, prices come from its price logic, the builder’s discounts included, and stay editable in review.

  5. A rep approves

    The rep clears the marked lines first, then approves. Product codes are checked against the ERP before the quote is written, and the agent learns from every line sent.

Example: a builder’s materials list for a rear extension

A builder on a trade account emails a rear-extension list (prices left out).

Customer requestIllustrative example
“Can you price this up for the Elm Road job, delivered. Usual account.”
  1. 47x100 C24 treated 4.8m: 40
  2. 4x2 CLS 2.4: 60
  3. 18mm OSB3 2440x1220: 30
  4. 12.5 TE plasterboard 2400x1200: 45
  5. 100mm dense block 7N: 300
  6. Type 1 bulk bag: 8
  7. Cavity lintel 2100: 2
  8. Our ref TB-221: 25
Proposed lines · Illustrative example
List lineProposed productQtyMatchNote
47x100 C24 treated 4.8mC24 treated timber 47×100 mm, 4.8 m4096Size, class, treatment and length stated.
4x2 CLS 2.4CLS studwork 38×89 mm, 2.4 m6090“4x2 CLS” read as 38×89, as quoted before.
18mm OSB3 2440x1220OSB/3 board 18 mm, 2440×1220 mm, square edge3087Tongue-and-groove board kept as an alternative.
12.5 TE plasterboard 2400x1200Plasterboard 12.5 mm, tapered edge, 2400×1200 mm4595“TE” read as tapered edge.
100mm dense block 7NDense concrete block 440×215×100 mm, 7.3N30093“7N” read as 7.3N; thickness stated.
Type 1 bulk bagType 1 sub-base aggregate, bulk bag892Bulk bag, not loose by the tonne.
Cavity lintel 2100Steel cavity lintel 2100 mm, standard duty261Load and wall width not stated, so the rep confirms the duty.
Our ref TB-221Treated roofing batten 25×50 mm, 4.8 m2598The builder’s own code, learned earlier.

Illustrative example: the list, products, codes and scores are invented to show how the review screen explains each line.

What does quote automation change for builders’ merchants?

At a UK builders’ merchant, enquiries land in branch inboxes, often from builders on account who want a whole job priced by the end of the day. One list crosses heavyside and lightside, and branch staff retype it between serving customers at the trade counter.

With ERP Agent, the branch forwards the email and opens a draft already matched to your catalogue and priced to the builder’s account from your ERP, so the rep’s time goes on the lintel with no load stated and the specified brand. The builder gets a price while still pricing the job, new staff work from what experienced colleagues have confirmed, and that product knowledge stays in the branch. Plumbing and heating lines follow the same path as at plumbers’ merchants; screws, nails and anchors are covered under fastener distributors.

ERP Agent is live with steel, HVAC and fastener distributors; the LVI-WaBeK case covers building services wholesale.

What do AI quotes for building materials distributors check on each line?

Sizes that separate variants

47x100 or 47x150, a 2440x1220 sheet, an 18mm board: a candidate that contradicts a stated size is pushed down.

Grades, treatments and edges

C16 or C24, treated or not, tapered or square edge: read from the line and matched to your product descriptions.

Imperial names, metric sizes and North American lumber

4x2, 47x100 and 2x4x8 SPF #2 are mapped like any abbreviation, and how your team resolves them is learned from what it sends.

Regular builders

With sales history, a builder’s usual products come forward first, and their own codes show on the line.

Specified brands

A brand you do not carry maps to your own equivalent through the cross-reference data set up for your company. See part-number cross-reference.

Accessory reminders

Switch on the second check and every line is re-checked; with accessory rules set up for your company, the rep is reminded that wall ties go with blocks. Your rep decides what goes on the quote.

What does the rep see before the quote goes out?

  • A match score from 0 to 100 on every line; under 80 is marked, so the rep starts with the lines that need a decision. How the match score works.
  • The reasoning behind each match.
  • Alternative products one click away.
  • Quote chat for adding rows or changing quantities and prices, each edit approved or rejected line by line.
  • Your team stays in control. A person approves before anything is written to your ERP, CRM or other system, and the agent never sends anything to a customer on its own.
ERP Agent quote review interface with sample data
Sample data: each request line beside the proposed product and its match score. Open full size

ERP Agent in numbers

4–7 min
per line when quotes and orders are created by hand, according to our case study
Over 95%
average automation across our customers
Over 95%
accuracy in quote-line automation at LVI-WaBeK, a building services wholesaler
3–8 min
for a typical request; several hundred lines take about half an hour

Where timber and building materials quotes land

ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, Visma, IFS, Sage and any other ERP or CRM, and creates the approved quote or sales order there. Requests arrive through Microsoft 365 / Outlook. We set up the connection for your company during onboarding, and you can start with a catalogue file the same week. See all ERP and email integrations.

Integrations and what ERP Agent reads and writes in each
SystemTypeReadsWrites
Dynamics 365 Business CentralERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesSales quotes and sales orders
SAP S/4HANAERP integrationProducts, business partners, customer pricesSales quotations and sales orders
SAP Business OneERP integrationItems, business partners, price listsSales quotations and sales orders
NetSuiteERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesEstimates (quotes) and sales orders
Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply ChainERP integrationReleased products, customers, trade agreement pricesSales quotations and sales orders
VismaERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesQuotes and sales orders
IFSERP integrationSales parts, customers, customer pricesSales quotations and customer orders
Monitor ERPERP integrationParts, customers, customer pricesQuotes and customer orders
Infor M3ERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesQuotations and customer orders
ExactERP integrationItems, customers, sales pricesQuotations and sales orders
AFAS ProfitERP integrationItems, debtors, price agreementsQuotes and sales orders
OdooERP integrationProducts, customers, pricelistsQuotations and sales orders
SageERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesSales quotes and sales orders
JeevesERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesQuotes and sales orders; confirmed values on purchase orders
LemonsoftERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesQuotes
Microsoft 365 / OutlookEmail integrationCustomer requests in the agent mailbox; email history for trainingNothing is sent to customers without your team
Catalogue file / SFTPFileProduct catalogue from a file, from the first weekThe reviewed quote or order as a file, ready to import into your system
Any other ERP or CRMERP or CRM integrationProducts, customers and prices, through the connection we set up for your company during onboardingQuotes and sales orders

Up and running without an IT project

ERP Agent is the first agentic AI layer for wholesale distribution ERP systems. It speeds up your quote desk without replacing anything you already run:

  • Works on top of your ERP. No replacement project: ERP Agent prepares the quote or sales order, and it lands in the ERP, CRM or other system you already use.
  • Start with a catalogue file. Load your catalogue and past quotes, and branches forward real builders’ lists to your agent mailbox the same week, while we set up the ERP connection.
  • Builders send lists the way they do today. Email, Excel, PDF or a photo: no portal, no EDI and no new form for your customers.
  • Made-to-order items stay with your specialists. Trusses, windows and doors made to order go on your placeholder code with the builder’s text beside them for your specialist to price, while the agent prepares every timber, sheet and block line around them.
  • Structural items are flagged, never guessed. A joist or lintel with no span or load stated is marked for the rep, and sizing stays with the designer.
  • Your team decides. Nothing reaches a builder without a person’s approval, and every confirmed line makes the next draft better.

Frequently asked questions

Which AI is best for building materials distributors?

One built for the merchant’s quote desk: it works from your own catalogue and trade account pricing, reads timber shorthand such as 4x2, C24 or CLS, shows a score and reasoning on every line, learns from your team and leaves approval to your rep. Contractor estimating apps price a job for the builder; ERP Agent prepares the merchant’s quote to that builder, with any ERP. The AI quote agent pilot checklist shows how to test it on your own enquiries.

Can it quote from a builder’s list sent as a photo or PDF?

Yes: email bodies, Excel, CSV, PDFs including scanned ones, Word, images such as a photo of a printed list, and forwarded emails. Your builders keep sending lists the way they do today.

Does it work with Kerridge, BisTrack or other merchant ERPs?

Yes. ERP Agent integrates with Kerridge K8, Epicor BisTrack, Business Central, SAP, Sage and any other ERP or CRM. We set up the connection for your company during onboarding, and you can start with a catalogue file the same week. See all ERP integrations.

Will the quotes use our trade account pricing?

Yes. With your ERP connected, prices come from the ERP’s own price logic, customer discounts included, and the rep can still adjust any price before the quote goes out.

How long does a house package or a long site list take?

A typical request takes 3–8 minutes; several hundred lines take about half an hour, in parallel batches once a rep approves the run. Fast mode handles up to about 50 lines from text, spreadsheets or Word in 1–3 minutes.

How can we test it on our own enquiries?

Bring a few lists your team has already quoted; we run them against your catalogue. No integration is needed to start; we set up the ERP connection during onboarding. Pricing is a setup fee plus a monthly subscription, itemised before you start; see how pricing works. ERP Agent is GDPR-compliant and models run with zero data retention; see security and data.

Let’s look at your quote workflow

Bring a real materials list

Send a list or two your branches quoted recently, a messy one included, and we’ll run it against your catalogue.

  • Your requests and product catalogue
  • Your pricing and review process
  • A clear scope for the next step
Lauri Pelkonen

Lauri Pelkonen

Founder & CEO

Book a 30-minute call Request a demo by email

Or use the address directly